Endless
by St. Harridan
Summary: "I love you, you know, and I won't ever stop." In which a weathered warrior seeks comfort in the arms of his lady. Kenpachi/first!Yachiru


Written for the **March Challenge **on Prompt Bingo, LJ.

**Prompt: **#13 - "Thank you for loving me. You saved me from myself."

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Endless

He sat upon the dirty ground, gazing through cracks in the fragile wooden walls of their little hut. The afternoon sun hung high in a sky clouded with thick ash, the aftermath of the recent burning of a few innocents at the stake.

But it wasn't that that concerned him.

He sat watching, unmoving, with his senses ever alert, as Yachiru fed the children with what little food she had managed to scavenge. He had told her not to leave the hut, but still she insisted on caring for the kids, a few of which had lost their parents to the merciless burning.

Crying and wailing, they clutched at her ragged clothes while she tried to pay enough attention to each of them. It was difficult considering how many children there were, but still she tried. He saw that she was striving so that every one of them could feel the warmth, the affection that came from a parent's touch. She had always wanted a few children herself, but their efforts never bore any fruition. That was most likely why she always left the hut often to mingle around with the youngsters outside.

He placed the rim of a glass bottle to his lips, tipped his head back and let the steady flow of sake warm his insides, all the while never lifting his watch over Yachiru. She ushered the children back into the orphanage, some of which had ceased their crying, and turned to him with a thumbs-up and a victorious grin.

"Cheh." He took another swig of sake as she let out an exasperated sigh meant to mock him of the fun that he was missing. But really, he couldn't find any fun with being around a bunch of bawling brats.

"Hey, Captain," Yachiru called when she entered the hut. "You know you should really spend some time with those children? They need all the love that they can get, what with their parents now gone."

"Ye'll never see me near a goddamned brat, 'Chiru," he growled, still gazing through the cracks in the wooden walls and ignoring the fond "title" she used to address him. He still couldn't find any point in calling him that, or what the term "captain" actually meant.

"You're a tad under the weather today, aren't you?" Her mocking grin softened into a smile as she reached out and ran her fingers through his rough hair. "What's the matter?"

Usually, if someone so much as touched him, he would have the person's severed head rolling on the ground without even a moment's notice. But, with Yachiru, he didn't move a muscle. He remained sitting there, silent, secretly revelling in the affectionate gesture. When she left him to immerse herself in chores around the hut, he had to fight the urge to grab her wrist and pull her towards him.

As he gazed at nothing in particular, hearing the distant crackle when Yachiru started a fire, he found himself thinking about the children. Seeing as she was so worried about them, he couldn't help but dwell on their conditions. For as long as he could remember, he hadn't any parents to watch over to him, to care for him. He had grown up in the worst district, striving to make a living for himself, and that overwhelmingly hard life had moulded him into a cold and distant individual who lived for nothing but survival.

But, when Yachiru came along, he found that his life had taken a turn for the better. It shocked him, to say the very least, as he had thought that nothing good could ever surface in this hellhole. He didn't like being wrong, but on that particular occasion he found himself unperturbed, and even rejoicing, at how terribly wrong he had been with his assumption.

Unlike the children, he didn't need to push through a crowd to attain her affections. They were already there for him, spread out like ever welcoming arms. He was careful though, only taking what he needed bit by bit just so that it wouldn't run out. Despite knowing that she would never cease to care for him, he still compared her to a bottle of sake. A taste of its splendour was something to savour little by little. All he could do was take the extra precautionary steps to preserve her affections, in spite of their being completely unnecessary… Maybe that was why he didn't show as much affection as she would have liked.

"Captain." That whisper in his ear startled him out of his reverie, and he turned on her with a glare.

"_What_?"

Yachiru couldn't help but burst out with a laugh, poking him in the centre of his forehead. "You're being a little odd today, Captain. Tell me what's wrong."

"Cheh." He let his eyelids drift to a close, though taking her question into account. It never appealed to him to talk about his own personal sentiments. He used to feel that giving into emotions was only a sign of weakness, of sympathizing with the enemy and being unable to take him down. Though this situation with Yachiru wasn't the same with clashing blades, he still found it hard to convey what he actually felt within himself.

It wasn't until Yachiru rested a hand on the side of his face and turned him towards her that he finally gave in. The look in her brown eyes was serious, even worried, much contrasting her usual laidback nature, and a small portion of him felt guilt for causing her such distress.

"Tell me." Though she failed at spitting forth orders, her tone managed to break through his defences. He reached out a hand to run his fingers through her hair, unconsciously mirroring her previous gesture and catching her by surprise.

He couldn't find it in him to tell her that she was the one who had made his life worth living. He was unable to tell her how much he was grateful to her, and despite how distant he appeared to be, he still felt for her what she felt for him – possibly even more.

But he really didn't have to voice them out. Yachiru already knew what was disturbing him. With a warm smile, she bent down and planted a kiss to his forehead.

He swallowed a sigh of relief as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down to him.

It had been hard to live on in the past, but now he found it even harder to live without her. Yachiru was the one who saved him before he could fall into everlasting oblivion, where he would have turned into another one of those wicked bastards prowling the district.

Tucking a lock of hair behind his ear, Yachiru brushed her lips against his. The fleeting touch sent a wave of electricity up his spine, causing him to tighten his hold around her.

He swallowed, closing his eyes, and rested his forehead against hers. Often he wondered why she even took a liking to him, why she was willing to spend the rest of her days with him. He never figured out the answer… but he guessed that it was for the same reason why he hadn't the urge to kill her since the moment he first caught sight of her.

He opened his eyes to see Yachiru smiling at him, her own bright with that same sentiment he felt inside, one that he was very much foreign with until he met her.

"I love you, you know," she murmured, tracing the long scar on his cheek with a fingertip, "and I won't ever stop."

A little grin tugged at the corners of his mouth, one that ridiculed himself for even comparing her to a bottle of sake. Alcohol could finish with one downing, but her feelings towards him would, as she had said a few times before, never end.

He held her tight and leaned back against the wall. Chuckling, she gave him a chaste kiss, to which he replied with a content grin. "Thanks… 'Chiru."


End file.
